belt-tighteningn.
/ˈbɛltˌtʌɪtn̩ɪŋ/, /ˈbɛltˌtʌɪtnɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈbɛltˌtaɪtn̩ɪŋ/, /ˈbɛltˌtaɪtnɪŋ/ 1.
a. The action of staving off, bearing, or putting up with hunger pangs. Cf. belt n.1 Phrases 3a.In later use sometimes overlapping with sense 1b.
ΚΠ
1905 North-China Herald 24 Nov. 434/3 Does one eat in these trains or is belt-tightening the order of the day?
1917 Times 10 Dec. 3/2 In the absence of the compulsory meat ration and its necessity for ‘belt tightening’, more meat must be obtained.
1974 Dept. State Bull. 70 622/2 It would take belt tightening by everyone except, one would hope, those many millions for whom further reductions would mean starvation.
2013 P. O'Mealy tr. H. K. Biesalski Hidden Hunger i. 3 It [sc. the story of human nutrition] is also influenced by the years of plenty and the years of belt-tightening.
b. Reduction of one’s expenditure; the introduction of (rigorous) economies. Cf. belt n.1 Phrases 3b.Now the main sense.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > retaining > sparingness or frugality > [noun] > saving or economizing
saving1551
moderation1601
savation?1670
Hooverizing1918
belt-tightening1934
slimming1958
1934 Times 5 May 12/1 This premonition of further belt-tightening is the main reason for the pessimism here.
1961 Atlantic Jan. 13/2 Belt tightening is not just a phrase but must become a reality.
1979 Dædalus Spring 121 Instead of this belt-tightening strategy, these countries [sc. non-oil developing countries] have in fact maintained important levels of imports and of economic activity.
1983 Listener 19 May 4/1 A further round of belt-tightening will be required, through additional cuts in public spending.
2003 New Republic 3 Nov. 28/2 Faster growth..would allow Americans to start to pay off some of their huge debts without their belt-tightening pushing the economy into recession.
2. The tightening of a machine belt.
ΚΠ
1910 Installation News 4 50/2 Any displacement of the motor along the slide rails for the purposes of belt tightening, and so on, can easily be taken up by loosening the contact nipple and sliding the larger size conduit over the main run.
1919 Belting 5 May 20/2 Improving the pulley face is far preferable to tightening the belt, for belt tightening increases this dead load while improving the pulley face decreases it.
1938 Heating & Ventilating Apr. 61/2 A resiliently mounted motor especially designed for belt tightening with over-drive belts such as are used for driving furnace blowers.
2003 V. M. Salokhe in T. W. Mew et al. Rice Sci. 707 This method reduces the efficiency because of the excessive belt slippage, as belt tightening cannot be done properly.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2017; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
belt-tighteningadj.
/ˈbɛltˌtʌɪtn̩ɪŋ/, /ˈbɛltˌtʌɪtnɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈbɛltˌtaɪtn̩ɪŋ/, /ˈbɛltˌtaɪtnɪŋ/ 1. Designating a mechanism, component, etc., that tightens a machine belt.Not always distinguishable from attributive uses of belt-tightening n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > mechanism > [adjective] > other
overhead1682
step by step1803
belt-tightening1873
throw-out1883
planetary1904
preselective1925
silky1935
servomechanical1946
servoing1959
switched1962
quartz-locked1977
1873 Specif. & Drawings of Patents (U.S. Patent Office) 24 June 793/2 The sliding frame T T R S with its arms or bearings, F, for the sliding bar I, with the guide-head i, the oblique guide H, in combination with the shifting-box G, and belt-tightening pulley E.
1899 Engineering 22 Sept. 360/1 The engine is thrown into gear by a belt-tightening jockey pulley operated by the driver.
1902 J. E. Homams Self-propelled Vehicles xxxi. 459 The method of shifting gears is an effective means of regulating the speed of a carriage, and next to the scheme of using loose pulleys or belt-tightening idlers, is also..the simplest and readiest.
1985 W. H. Baier in H. A. Rothbart Mech. Design & Syst. Handbk. (ed. 2) xxxv. 25 Belt-tightening drives, such as belt-tighteners, must not be used.
2016 Y. Shan Canned Citrus Processing iii. 103 The PP [= polypropylene] tape is tightened by the belt-tightening device.
2. Of a person.
a. Staving off, bearing, or putting up with hunger pangs. Cf. belt n.1 Phrases 3a. rare.
ΚΠ
1944 N.Y. Times 6 Oct. 7/4 Beleaguered, belt-tightening Germans got new cuts in food rations tonight from Dr. Paul Joseph Goebbels, total mobilization director.
1947 Time 11 Aug. 28/3 Nor did the belt-tightening Britons begrudge the tons of food required to stock the Mary's first westbound voyage.
b. Attempting to reduce his or her expenditure; introducing (rigorous) economies. Cf. belt n.1 Phrases 3b.Now the main sense.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > retaining > sparingness or frugality > [adjective] > economizing
belt-tightening1953
1953 L. Zilliacus Mail for World viii. 99 Even the belt-tightening Londoners of the mid-twentieth century have several deliveries daily and a letter posted in the early morning reaches the addressee in the afternoon.
1988 Toronto Star (Nexis) 15 Dec. (Final ed.) a30 Universities have also felt the pinch from belt-tightening governments.
1990 R. Goldberg & G. J. Goldberg Anchors xiv. 210 The new belt-tightening, Argus-eyed management of GE, Cap Cities, and Tisch.
2013 W. H. Smith Catching Lightning in Bottle iv. 111 Merrill took a survey in the state of Washington that showed that belt-tightening families were canceling paid magazine subscriptions because of the Depression.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2017; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1905adj.1873